Sweet and Low
by peanut goddess
Summary: Shego heads downtown in an attempt to get away from it all and runs into pumpkin and buffoon instead. Her reaction bewilders Kim, she won't fight her. Things proceed from there. KIGO Complete!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own the Kim Possible characters. I only borrowed them for a while.

I use British English spelling and can't change it now!! Thanks to all those excellent kigo writers for their inspirational, complex work. This is a far simpler affair but something that has been on my mind since I saw a certain episode.

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Shego raised her gloved hands and ignited her plasma. The green glow was comforting to her as she lounged in the chair watching Drakken fuss around with his latest invention. He was relentless for sure, slightly bonkers for definite, and though she had been his employee for nearly four years now, her heart was no longer in it. She was just going through the motions awaiting their next big showdown with Team Possible who would undoubtedly stop them.

In fact Shego always made sure of that. I mean she didn't seriously want Dr. D's mad schemes to actually work most of the time and after the mind control incident she didn't feel quite the same enthusiasm for his company as she once had. She was wary of him and told herself she stayed to keep an eye on him. After a thorough beating the whimpering scientist vowed he would never try to subjugate her again and aprons were banned from the lair. He had also given her a generous pay rise and a bonus because he did in his own way realise that Shego was the best advantage he had when being thwarted by the insufferable Kim Possible. He always made a clean enough getaway with Shego there to delay her. As for that idiot sidekick of hers, he was becoming too pesky by far but Drakken knew that Shego would always make sure her boss had escaped and if not she was sure to break him out of custody before long. Yes Shego was very useful, frightening, but useful.

If only he knew that it was Shego herself who kept blocking the master plan from actually succeeding and not Team Possible at all. Well that would have been another kettle of fish and Shego knew that if he suspected then he would stop at nothing to punish her betrayal. So she kept one eye on him at all times and tried to convince herself she was where she ought to be for the moment. The mighty Shego was hibernating it seemed. Looking back at her glowing hands gave her that sense of peace that rarely came since the comet struck all those years ago changing her brothers and herself into powerful freaks. And the rush she had once felt working with Drakken to foil Kim and her buffoon, the giddy anticipation of their legendary showdowns, was waning fast and an all pervasive ennui was settling in the plasma wielder's soul just like it had all those years ago when she upped and left Team Go behind for the nefarious life she was still involved in.

She was supreme thief, worthy martial arts opponent, green-hued, raven-haired goddess, ex-hero and the loneliest person on the planet. She sighed and quenched the flame and turned her attention back to Dr. D as he fidgeted and hiccupped gleefully while tinkering with what must have been his dumbest invention yet.

"I'm going out," she called over to him. He was blissfully unaware of her presence at that moment as he calibrated the appropriate bells and whistles. Shego, irked now, stood up and walked stealthily behind him. "I'm GOING OUT, Dr. D!" she all but bellowed in his ear. Drakken fell over from the shock.

"Quit sneaking up on me, Shego!" He muttered as he picked himself up.

"Why Dr. D, do I scare you?" Shego smirked as he turned to face her.

"Of course you do! That's why I hired you!" He replied before turning back to his project. "How long will you be out?"

"As long as I want to be, doy!" She rolled her eyes, "I am allowed some time off you know!" He grimaced and nodded, he didn't need her at the moment anyway.

"Fine, goodbye!" She watched as he scuttled back to his tinkering. He wasn't that bad she supposed then she got a grip and recalled the mind control chip.

Shego was glad to be on her bike roaring away from the lair. She knew that he would be absorbed for the next few days so she felt it was relatively safe to take some time to herself. They were on the outskirts of Middleton, home of Team Possible, for the last few months and Shego had only ventured downtown once before. That time she had spotted the dreaded Kim and her buffoon exiting a movie theatre holding hands and acting lovey-dovey. She had not hung around for long and had quickly retreated to the lair again. For some reason unknown to Shego she had become depressed about her life and fell into the doldrums. Even bloody Kim Possible had a life aside from the work…even that buffoon had a life! And Shego had…well… nothing.

She parked the bike down a dark alleyway with plenty of getaway options should she run into trouble. But she wasn't after trouble tonight and she knew it. She was after something entirely different from trouble. She was dressed in form fitting black leather pants and jacket. She undid the zipper of the jacket and revealed a beautiful dark green top underneath. She took off her helmet and let her hair cascade down her back. Before leaving the lair she had applied make-up to her greenish skin so that she might blend in rather than stand out. She hated having to do it as though she were cheating herself, but her current lifestyle meant she was a wanted woman in several countries so a little tact had to come into a night out. She rounded the corner and joined the throngs of people walking on the boulevard in the centre of town. It was always the busiest strip on a Friday night in Middleton with plenty of restaurants, clubs, bars and cafes to suit all tastes. Tonight she decided to go to the cinema first. She looked at the playbill and chose whatever hit her fancy, bought a ticket and went inside.

Sitting there in the dark, feeling worse than ever, she tried to ignore the couples filling up the seats around her. _This was a bad idea _she thought _what was I thinking?_ She forced herself to stay put and at least see the beginning of the movie but after about twenty minutes she got up and walked out back into the balmy night air. Her mood darkened. _It was an awful movie anyway _she reassured herself and also praised herself for not firing some plasma at the screen and terrifying the sickening couples all around her. She then started striding towards a bar she had seen down a side street earlier that looked dark and inviting. There were motorbikes parked outside and the clientele were all bikers. It was actually a cool place and she felt at home as soon as she walked in. It was busy enough to have to push her way to the bar counter to order as everyone seemed to be there to hear the band playing in the corner. She could just slot right in here and no one would bother her. She would just look like another fan of the band and not the desperately lonely person she actually was. She got her drink and pushed closer to the front of the crowd to take up a position close enough for drink refills and listening. They weren't half bad and Shego found herself relaxing her tense muscles as the beer took effect and the semi-darkness hid her.

Four hours later she emerged from what she now considered her local in Middleton. She'd had a few appreciative glances her way and some conversations over the noise of the band. She had even danced with a few people and sat down afterwards at their table. The women were friendly and the men were pretty decent. They were definitely white collar bikers she realised but that didn't matter to her. They were good company and she didn't feel alone for those few hours. She made her way back to her bike and just sat on it staring down the alleyway to the bright street beyond the darkness. She heard the rustle in the shadows at the back of the alley and quickly jumped from the bike, igniting her plasma and falling into a defensive position.

"Give it up Shego!" She heard the familiar voice calling to her and from the shadows the face of Kim Possible emerged with a look of determination etched on it. Shego sighed and quenched her plasma, baffling Kim. She stood up straight and looked straight at the teen hero.

"What are you playing at, Shego?" Kim asked suspiciously.

"Nothing, princess!" _Come and get me if you dare _Shego thought and then smirked. Kim approached her cautiously and signalled to Ron who had come behind Shego. Shego expected this and wasn't surprised to be cornered. Time for a little fun end to the evening she supposed but not without a few questions of her own.

"How did you find me tonight, pumpkin?" she asked in a quiet voice she knew would throw Kim off. "I'm off the clock, you know." She ignored Ron though she could hear him approaching her inch by buffoon inch.

Kim unsure whether to answer or not simply looked at Shego and realised the lucky break of capturing the thief when she was off the clock like she said. Then she felt a little wave of guilt, because Shego was on her own time, obviously on a night out, but then so was she before this confrontation. Besides Shego was lethal!

"We were on a date, Shego!" Kim heard the unmistakeable voice of her boyfriend answer Shego's question and then heard Rufus chime in "yeah, yeah, date!" She almost rolled her eyes but that would have given Shego the opportunity she needed to attack.

"A date? How romantic…and then you spotted me and couldn't leave well enough alone, could you pumpkin!" Shego smirked again, and then half turned towards Ron so that she could see them both. "I just want to go home to bed, princess. Is that too much to ask?" She kept her hands by her sides. She just didn't feel up to fighting Kim tonight. Not tonight.

Kim's mouth fell open and she gaped at Shego as though she had three heads. "You're a wanted felon, Shego. How could I not bring you into custody? Global Justice are on their way. Just come quietly." She hoped the thief would actually do it for once so she could go back to breaking up with Ron. Yes as usual the green one had thrown a spanner in the works on this most important of nights: the night she would break Ron's heart. She felt like a heel all night and took the gift handed her to delay the inevitable when she spied Shego exiting a bar. She would know her anywhere. Like the black and green cliché she was, no amount of make-up could disguise her foe and Kim went into Team Possible mode straight away telling Ron what to do before racing to beat Shego to the alleyway she assumed she was walking to.

Shego sensed something in the air alright but didn't know what exactly was going on. Kim was more tense than usual and the buffoon was being…well…a buffoon. Some sarcastic comments dripped from her tongue and in a flash she had back flipped over Ron, blasted him with a mild dose of plasma to knock him out knowing that Kim would have to check on him giving her plenty of time to make a getaway. As she ran down the alleyway she heard something that made her stop in her tracks.

"SHEGO WAIT!" There was something in Kimmie's voice that actually made her stop and turn around. The teen hero ran towards her, "Global Justice aren't on their way. I lied. I never called them. I…I'm sorry for interrupting your night out…I know you only stunned Ron so take your bike and go home. I'll wait until he wakes up," Kim shuffled her feet a little, "and then finish breaking up with him." Kim winced as the words left her mouth.

Why had she said that out loud to Shego of all people and why on earth had she run after her? Kim's huge olive eyes were caught in the street light behind Shego and shone with a brilliance Shego could only gasp at. Then Kim looked down at her hands she was rubbing together self-consciously. Something caught Shego's attention in the gesture. Something familiar. So that right there, that night of all nights, Shego walked towards Kim and said the immortal words, "Do you wanna talk about it, pumpkin?" Shego felt her knees wobble at the sound of her own voice saying such uncharacteristic things to her arch-nemesis. What on earth had come over her…because she actually meant it? She put her hand on Kim's shoulder not knowing whether she would attack or not. Kim had the same thoughts rushing through her head but didn't move to brush Shego's hand away. She dropped her head into a most vulnerable position while she answered the thief whose hot hand rested on her shoulder before pulling her into a warm embrace as Kim whispered a quiet yes.

They stood there in the darkness holding each other gently, comfortably until Kim heard Ron's groans and broke free from Shego's warm body to go back to him. They looked into each others' eyes as though really seeing each other in that instant. Kim walked away, head held high, no embarrassment evident. She turned one last time to look at the green lady.

"Come back for you bike in a half hour. We'll be gone and…and…thank you."

Shego only nodded and walked out of the alleyway feeling stranger than she had ever felt before. _What the hell was all that about? Have I gone soft? Why did I act as though I cared? _

True to her word, Kim and Ron were nowhere to be seen when Shego returned and after checking her bike thoroughly for bugs, she raced back to the lair and the familiar sights, sounds and smells of Drakken's den before falling into a dreamless sleep.

Kim fell in to bed several hours later after the longest break-up in history. They had talked and talked until Ron finally, reluctantly accepted the split. What had taken hours were the measures needed to make sure their friendship would be intact and their working relationship would not be affected. Rufus looked as dejected as Ron but Kim knew Ron was a good guy and given a little time and space, their friendship would be back on track. She kissed them both on the forehead as she left the car and went back into her house where her father was waiting on the couch with a stern look on his face. _Oh here we go _she sighed as she smiled weakly at her father and allayed all his fears about what she had been up to till four in the morning by relating the break-up with Ron to him.

Her father slept soundly that night but Kim couldn't sleep. All she thought about was Ron and then her moment of weakness tonight, her breaking of the law in letting a known felon escape but most of all of the moment of kindness Shego had shown her after all their years of fighting. It wasn't that it was odd. There was a mutual respect lurking there somewhere behind all the sarcastic banter they engaged in, no it wasn't because it was odd that it unnerved her, it was because it felt right. And the wonderful memories she had suppressed of those days Shego had lived in the Possible home while under the effects of Electronique's attitudinator came back to haunt her. They had been some of the happiest moments of her life and always the question of what Shego had wanted to say to Kim before she was zapped back into evil Shego niggled at Kim. Her last thought before drifting off was if Shego remembered what she had wanted to say and would she ever tell her?


	2. Chapter 2

"This is it, Shego!" Drakken ranted in his unforgettable voice, "I have outdone my self, you know!" his movements almost Napoleonic as he puffed out his chest and drew his mouth into a wide smile that was more like a baring of the teeth with a devilish twinkle in the eye. A Drakken smile, Shego mused as she looked over the top of her magazine. His voice was theatrical and in the old days she would start to feel the buzz of impending criminal activity when he started talking about a completed scheme to take over the world. She looked back at the Club Banana ad and awaited the gathering storm of the frenetic Drakken phase also known as…

"Shego! Are you listening to me?" He twirled around and eyed her suspiciously. He needed his audience for the unveiling of the diabolical plan. He was practically bouncing with barely concealed excitement.

"Hmm?" Shego purred, feigning ignorance that he was on his pedestal awaiting her attention. She lowered her magazine and stood up slowly arching her back and slinking over to him while yawning. "What were you saying, Dr D?"

Drakken somehow caught the blood vessel about to burst at her apparent indifference as his need to boast far outweighed a coronary. "Delighted to see you are with us tonight, Shego!" He tapped his foot before puffing his chest out again and gesturing with his arms towards the machine before them, "tonight after all the nights I have been toiling away surrounded by buffoons and overpaid henchmen!" He paused as he saw Shego's heckles rising, "I'm not talking about you, of course, my evil assistant." Shego backed down a quarter of an inch. "As I was saying…tonight after all the nights I have been toiling…yes toiling is a suitable word…but striving has a ring to it too, don't you think? Don't look at me like that Shego! Where was I? Ah yes…I have finally come up with a machine so diabolical, so ghastly, so vile…so…horrendous…"

"Have you been waiting to unleash that list, Dr. D?!" Shego had to cut him off while looking as bored as possible. It was too easy. "Cut to the chase already!"

"Impertinence!" Drakken quickly rethought the wisdom of calling Shego impertinent but it was too late. She ignited her plasma and caught him by the scruff of his signature attire.

"You were saying, Dr. D?"

"Ah...er...well…release me and I will get to the point!" Shego did so after the appropriate time of menace (5 seconds-give or take a panic attack) had passed and he brushed off his tunic in an attempt to move beyond the fright he had just received. "You're quite right, of course, my malevolent apprentice!" He moved over to the consul and beckoned Shego to observe the display where a delightful little animation he had been working away on began its sequence. He was quite proud of it actually and watched Shego's reactions carefully. Her arms were crossed in front of her in the universal 'I'm not entirely sure about this' appearance but it was her eyes he was really watching. He was waiting for the glee to add that sparkle to them as his schemes had always done in the past. That glint in her eye had been missing he knew.

Shego watched the little rocket on the screen as it blasted off into to what appeared to be outer space. Then it zoomed into the capsule where she and a miniature Dr. D were sipping champagne and gazing at the planet with huge anime grins on their green and blue heads. _I'm not that green _she muttered to herself. She was amazed at the detail he had gone to as the picture zoomed out again and panned down to the planet where a green energy vapour or mist, she wasn't sure, covered the planet before dissipating. The scene cut to the two characters disembarking the landing craft and immediately being venerated and waited on hand and foot by the entire world. Of course prominent in the animation were Kim Possible, the buffoon and his annoying rodent, various villains Drakken had issues with and people she supposed had bullied Drakken in high school because of their gym wear. Was that Kimmies's dad kiising his boots? Her eyes narrowed as the reality of the situation sank in…_Goddamn mind control again!_ Shego tensed, took a step back from the consul and turned to Drakken.

"Mind control, eh Doc?" Shego's temper was singing through her eyes; any fool would know how she felt. "WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT GODDAMN MIND CONTROL? YOU IDIOT!" She exploded and launched a shock of plasma at him which knocked him clear across the room. He squealed and slumped to the ground looking quite dazed and rubbed the back of his head. As he looked up he could see her stalking towards him plasma burning and the anger in her eyes was truly terrifying.

"No! Shego…it's not what you think…it's not mind control…Shego please!" He yelped as he coiled away from another attack but it didn't come, "I learned my lesson the last time," he ventured to whimper from behind his arms.

"What is it then?" He heard her ask. He straightened up and took her arm when she offered it. Limping back to the consul, indignant and ever the drama queen he pointed to the machine, "that work of genius you had incorrectly surmised as mind control is in fact NOT a mind control machine…oh no…it is the means by which we shall control the world of its own free will. They will be eating out of our hands because they choose to do it."

"Ooo…kay…then…" Shego was waiting for the punch line. She began tapping her foot as Drakken's dark eyes glazed over. He leaned in for optimum vocal delivery - something he practised in the mirror all those years of torment ago (also known as university colleagues and their lip!). He inhaled deeply.

"It is the dispenser of the elixir of adoration!" He said as he caressed the machine before him. Shego looked on incredulous, paused, then she smiled, then she laughed and then her laughs became side splitting guffaws. "A love potion, Dr. D! You've spent the last eight months cooking up a love potion!"

Incensed by her dismissal of his pet project he snarled, "It works I'll have you know!"

Shego gathered herself together as she faced Drakken again. "A love potion is still mind control Dr. D. This one isn't going to get off the ground. In fact...I forbid it!" She was quite serious and Drakken could only see red as her words of defiance spilled from her dark lips.

"YOU FORBID IT SHEGO? YOU FORBID IT! Well then, that solves that! The whole employee employer dynamic has been turned on its head…why wasn't I alerted!" Drakken was gesticulating wildly and pacing around the room. "This is a brilliant plan and the effects are temporary, by the way. Yes…TEMPORARY! I mean world domination is all fun and games until the responsibility of it all kicks in…Look what happened my beautiful Daiblo creations! My magma laser! I still can't eat cheese! No, Shego, my villainous accomplice, I want to show them that I can take over the world, that I Dr. Drakken, evil genius can take over the world in an instant…and then you see Shego, the plan comes to fruition as they must negotiate with me…and while they negotiate my power increases until they hand me the keys to the kingdom and I become immortal!...or something along those lines." He stopped pacing and looked at her. "At least there is nothing for Kim Possible to destroy as it will be a fait accomplit in one dose!"

Shego rolled her eyes and put her hand on her hip while pointing directly at him. "Don't you see how incredibly boring it all will be then? Where is the chase, the subterfuge, the thrill of the thieving gone if they're going to 'negotiate' everything with us? I used to get such a kick out of your plans Dr. D! How incredibly boring world domination sounds right now. I mean...okay Dr. D, I get where you're going with this, I do. It's your life's goal. The plan is admirable in its scope…the animation is quite an achievement in itself…the champagne had better be the best…but don't you see Dr. D? Don't you see that having every woman and man, I might remind you, on the planet madly in love with you, would be a nightmare? They'll start wars to get near you. You'll have to go in to hiding…and temporary? You have no idea what a worldwide release might do or how long it would take to evaporate. They might have destroyed the world in the meantime climbing over themselves for a piece of you…and well, being in hiding is pretty much what we're doing now, isn't it!? I like it as it is now…one-upmanship on the players on our own chessboard…not the whole world…only those we get a thrill from beating…Global Justice, Team Possible, Dementor, DNAmy, my brothers for Pete's sake! Everyone who ever crossed you, maybe, but the whole frickin' world? Forget it…you gotta think this through Dr. D. I for one am not going to die, yes die, protecting you from the deranged lovesick people coming to claim you. Nah ah, no way!" Shego stated emphatically with her hands and then sighed after she said her piece and went back to the magazine she had been reading, putting her feet up and re-immersing herself in the latest Club Banana designs. Case closed.

Drakken, completely deflated after her tirade, looked back at his beloved machine, then back at Shego, then back at the machine before loping over to it and pressing the off switch.

"I'm going to retire for the evening." He sighed. "Perhaps you're right. Perhaps taking over a country or two and having to outwit the others to keep it would be more satisfying...for the moment." _At least until I figure out what is up with you tonight!_ _ Hmmm we'll need a new lair...somewhere cold..._

"That's more like it Dr. D…enough with the mind control and more with the doomsday devices if you please," Shego answered from behind her magazine before sending a powerful charge directly at the offending machine which caused chaos as the henchmen rushed in to put out the fire. Drakken didn't even turn around and continued shuffling off to bed his mind already drawing schematics for the ultimate doomsday device and also beginning the list of suitable countries to rule. _That should keep him occupied for a while _Shego decided as she left the lair and commotion behind. She walked out into the night air and looked up at the stars overhead.

_I've got to get out of here. I've got to pack my bags, load up the jet and fly as far away from here as I possibly can. Damn blue fool and his grand plans! I just want the simple life...thieving and moderate villainy, sarcastic banter and show-stopping mortal combat…is that too much to ask? This situation has become insufferable. I should go solo again…though that was a little...lonely back then…I'm sure I could do it now…but I'm too used to having a team around me I guess. Am I really too chicken to go it alone? Gah! I'm debating myself…I've officially lost it. I need a holiday…Somewhere hot. Back to the Caribbean for you, Shego! That's it I'm addressing myself in the third person. I. Need. A. Break! I need to get the fire back in my belly. I'm going soft with all the hugging and world saving…I wonder if that love potion really did work? Who did he test it on…Hmmm…I bet the buffoon wishes he had some now! What the-_

Shego spent the rest of the evening wondering why Kim's situation with her sidekick had entered her head. Then she wondered how the break-up went and if they were still Team Possible or just Team Kim and Nerdlinger…_Nah too much of a mouthful._

She found that now the lively redhead and her posse were in her head, she wanted to talk to Kim. For the first time since the attitudinator incident (one she forced to the deep recesses of her mind), she thought about that time she spent with Kim: shopping, eating out, talking, laughing, giggling (she giggled? Yes she recalled it!), hugging Kim and smiling. What an unrecognisable creature she had become! And what was it she had wanted to say to Kim before she regained her senses and was her old self again? That she cared? No! It couldn't have been that…what was it? Ah yes, it was appropriately embarrassing. She stopped breathing as a warm feeling ran through her body and she felt the need to see Kim, to tell her face to face what she had meant to say that day.

She smirked…she would freak Kim out if she just stopped by. She would certainly not use the website as Nerdlinger would track her…Phone maybe? A letter? Yikes Shego NO WAY! Phone her and arrange a meeting. That was it. See if Kimmie would meet her after their incident in the alleyway. She had hugged Pumpkin there too. It was only for a few seconds, but she had patted Kim's back and told her everything would be okay. And she was herself so that meant…horror…that meant she did actually care for pumpkin! She should have balsted her there and then that night. It was almost insane to care about a teenage hero she on first meeting was quite prepared to offer as chum to the sharks…but steadily Kimmie had earned her respect. Every time Kim foiled Drakken and fought valiantly against her had deepened the respect. They even worked as a team against Aviarius and in those moments of "You go high and I'll go low" or some such words, they were as one. Seamless in execution of a common goal. Get the overgrown flamingo! She recalled the headiness of being filled with all Team Go's powers and how she gave them up without much of a fight. How electrifying to see Princess imbued with Hego's strength bust through the door of Drakken's lair to fetch her back to Go City. All these pieces sewed themselves together in the fabric of Shego's mind. And she sighed. _I wasn't alone, was I pumpkin! You were there all the way. You are in every invigorating memory of the last few years. We were enemies first, friends for a short time, comrades briefly, enemies…okay a lot!_

Finally she knew what she wanted to do and actually looked forward to it. She envisioned teasing Kim, making her squirm but not in her usual nasty evil way. She wanted to see Kim off the clock and she wondered if Kim would admit the same or would she retreat after her blunder in the alley? Kim had made the first move. The proposition reinvigorated Shego and she turned and walked back inside the lair. That night Shego, bane of many an existence, fell asleep with a smile on her lips...


	3. Chapter 3

Kim slumped into the breakfast nook across from her Dad. His head was hidden behind The Examiner newspaper as he greeted her.

"Morning Kimmie-cub."

"Morning Dad."

Something in her tone made him look away from his colleague's article in that morning's edition, fold up the paper and place it carefully on the table as he thought about his next sentence. He took in her slumped form and lack of interest in her breakfast.

"Is there something on your mind, honey?" He asked his eldest child as casually as possible.

Kim looked up from her cereal, quite aware that her father was worried about her. She knew she hadn't been acting the same since she broke up with Ron.

"Uhm…thanks Dad, I'm okay…I guess."

Dr. Possible was not that easily swayed but knowing it had something to do with Ron, and therefore boys, he was just relieved that she didn't seem to want to pour her heart out to him over breakfast about the whole 'relationship' situation. No, he was quite content to let his wife deal with matters of the teenage girl's heart. And as if right on cue the Dr. Possible of many an intern's fantasy swayed into the room, poured herself some coffee and in that time read the body language of her spouse and offspring and waited for the tag from her husband to enter the fray. They had discussed Kim's demeanour since she told her Dad about the break-up that night she had come home at four in the morning. To say that Ann was concerned was to put it mildly. She was quite aware of her daughter's type A personality, what drove her, and particularly how she would feel about hurting someone close to her in such a strong way.

Yelling at the Tweebs, or pulverising a villain notwithstanding, Ann knew that hurting someone emotionally would reduce her daughter to a bout of despondency. Kim was an always-in-control girl and right now, because of the space she had to give Ron to deal with his broken heart, she was out of the loop with someone she had been in the loop with since Pre-K. Yes, Ann Possible understood the dynamics her daughter now worried about and with good reason. If Ron did not recover from this emotional blow then Team Possible as Kim knew it would no longer exist.

During the terrifying Graduation ordeal as Warmonga and Warhok quite easily captured Kim and began to take over the planet, she had seen Ron step up and vow to head into space to save Kim. James and he had gone straight away to the rocket to rescue her and though she felt a sense of dread that they might not succeed, she had also been grateful that Ron was there and cared for her daughter so deeply, so honourably, that he would leave the planet to retrieve her. It made a mother feel safe.

She recalled the synthodrone Eric coming to their house for Prom and the glance she had given to an old photo of Ron and Kim as she saw them out. She felt a moment of nostalgia for the squeaky-voiced youth and all the familiarity he brought with him. Eric was the unknown, the future made real of a time when Kim would leave the Possible nest and branch out on her own and her parents would have no say in who she dated. Of course, one could say that they had no say now about Kim's extra-curricular activities and technically they'd be right. However, Kim knew her boundaries with her parents and observed them dutifully and predictably for a teenager with a saviour complex. She regarded them as firm but fair. They were her parents and her absolute. Yet she was still a sullen teenager when the situation arose. And Ann, for one, was glad of this as it kept a semblance of normality. She delighted in the fact that Kim chased her annoying brothers and groaned about their behaviour like any normal older sister would do. The only difference was the boys were building and launching rockets and satellites and Kim was saving the world and fighting villains all the time. Confounded long ago by her children, she opted for calm acceptance of their unique brilliance and decided to treat them as normally as possible in the Possible household.

Of course the Possible household had been rebuilt from the ground up in record time as a thank you from various governments after the missile from earth's orbit had flattened the house during Kim's graduation adventure mere months ago. She would have called the battle with the aliens an ordeal except that Kim and Ron came back buzzing from their victory and regaled them with tales of their alliance with Drew Lipsky and Shego. Kim had been walking on air afterwards, and as the world thanked Drew and Shego, Kim had seemed closer to Ron. Ann had thought that things were balancing out as her daughter matured.

However, since that event, Kim had been trawling through the college acceptance letters fretting over which course to choose and which university to grace with her very famous presence. They were all eager to have her on their books and being faced with such a choice at 18 was bound to take a toll on the young woman before her now. But…and there was always a but…Kim hadn't explained why she broke up with Ron. Of course she didn't have to tell her parents why. Sure Ann could give a few guesses; she wasn't blind to his constant prattle and grating high-pitched voice, his insecurities about his relationship with Kim and his worrisome obsession with Bueno Nacho. But his pros were numerous and boyfriend material aside, Rufus was perhaps his most powerful offering to the Team Possible mix. By all accounts, and she'd read all mission accounts, Rufus had saved the day almost every time. That was one brilliant and loveable naked mole rat.

So, knowing all this, Dr. Ann Possible waited for the inevitable pass of the ball from her squeamish though infinitely caring husband. 3…2…1…

"Good Morning darling! I've got to head, meeting the guys for a brain-storm in tee minus twenty! See you later Kimmie-cub!" James Possible shuffled out of the nook, kissed his wife on the cheek and walked out the kitchen door with a spring in his step. Ann turned to her daughter.

"Morning Kim. Are you alright darling? You've hardly eaten your breakfast."

Kim smiled at her mother, though her eyes were quiet and pensive.

"Hi Mom, I'm fine…I've just got a lot on my mind…ya know…with the whole relationship sitch."

"Of course darling. I know it's difficult at the moment. Have you heard anything from Ron?" Kim dropped her head on to the table.

"Oh Mom, it's been a week now and I've only heard through Wade and Monique that Ron is holed up in the tree house with a freshly painted NO GIRLS ALLOWED in giant red letters on every wall! Plus poor Rufus is looking awful from all the junk food they have been eating and Monique says he won't talk about it with her. I'm worried Mom. I've changed everything. I promised him that we wouldn't break up after graduation and here I am two months later after breaking my word-"

"Now stop that, honey! Did you lie to Ron at the time?" Ann interrupted.

"No, I thought we would work out." Kim sat up straighter.

"So you didn't knowingly deceive him just to allay his fears?" Ann prodded.

"Of course not!" Kim sat straight up and looked at her mother.

"Well then, you did not break your word because you did not lie at the time and, honey, you are entitled to change your mind. Stop beating yourself up for not continuing to date Ron when you knew you didn't want to. That would have been a lie, an insult even. Ron will see that and he will come around."

Kim got up, rushed over and hugged her other tightly, sobbing.

"Oh thanks Mom, you make so much sense! I needed to hear that. You're right, I would've been a terrible friend had we continued dating and I would have resented Ron and he would have hated me even more."

"He doesn't hate you Kim. He's hurting. You were his first love. That always stings." Ann stroked her daughter's hair as they continued to embrace.

"Mom, there's something else." Kim ventured between sobs.

"Yes darling?"

Kim pulled away from her mother's warmth and sat down again.

"The night I broke off with Ron, we tried to capture Shego."

"Shego? Here in Middleton?"

"Yes. I spotted her leaving a bar and we cornered her down an alleyway where she had her bike. She was just out for the night. Nothing criminal and yet I went after her."

"Why?"

"Why? Because it's Shego Mom and she and Drakken have gone back to their old ways after the Warmonga incident. I guess he wasn't happy saving the world; he started up his old favourite tune of taking over the world! You know that, Mom."

"Yes, yes I know. I was asking why you went after Shego on a night when you obviously intended to break up with Ron and on a night when she seems to have been doing nothing criminal."

Kim stiffened in her seat, "Cos I was delaying the convo with Ron."

"So what happened?"

"Well to make a long story short, she got away by knocking Ron out. Don't worry, it was a mild blast of plasma, she just wanted to get away. She knew I'd check on him and I did and then I did something very strange…I called out her name and asked her to stop." Ann sat down opposite her daughter urging her to continue. "She stopped and I ran up to her and apologised for interrupting her private time and told her to come back and take her bike when we were gone. Then…then…"

"Then what, Kimmie?"

"Then I blurted out that I was breaking up with Ron and Shego gave me a hug and told me that everything would work out…and Mom what is freaking me out is not that I let a criminal go…I'm worried because when she comforted me, it felt right. Like we were friends again and I missed that. She was very gentle, very respectful and didn't say one sarcastic thing." Kim put her head in her hands.

_So there's a lot going on in there, isn't there honey!_ Ann thought to herself as she reached over and took Kim's hand in her own.

"Kim, look at me…good girl. Are you worried about revealing your personal life to an enemy?"

"No not that."

"Do you think Shego will use that moment against you in battle?"

"Honestly? No."

"Well then, that's good, isn't it? That emotional night, you were so terrified of hurting Ron, you opened up to someone you've come to consider as your equal. Yes, your equal. I know you and Shego have gone head to head countless times. I know her tactics from the reports you filed…yes I read them…It seems to me that you opened up to someone who saved your life when she didn't have to, someone who I reckon has a great deal of respect for you and what you do. I mean she was a hero when she was younger after all…probably your age too at the time. I mean Kim she even stayed here and was a wonderful sweet houseguest-"

"But she was under Electronique's-"

"I know that Kim. The Attitudinator, wasn't it? I know, but there was something there anyway underlying her behaviour. That machine just let the suppressed tendencies out by the sound of it. A change of attitude. She is all those things to you, you know. Friend, foe…team mate even."

"Several times."

"So I think it was quite normal for you to open up to somebody you felt a connection with that night. I see no problem with that. I don't believe she will hurt you with this new knowledge either. She knows you respect her and that you placed your trust in her in those seconds she was running away."

"We work really well as a team Mom, it's scary."

"Do you think you would like to work with her some day?"

Kim looked down at their joined hands and thought about what her mother had just said.

"Mom, I would love to work with Shego. She's brilliant in all the right ways. She's an excellent fighter, she's fearless, she has that cool plasma thing going on and she's sort of fun to have around. She has a comment for everything and well when it's not directed at me…it's kinda enjoyable! She's so the drama sometimes…" Kim sighed.

Ann let her daughter's hand go and got up to refill her coffee and get a bagel. There was a lot of information here and she wanted to digest it. She turned to Kim.

"Kimmie, darling. Don't worry about Ron too much. He's a great kid and he'll come knocking at that door one of these nights and you two will have a few conversations ahead of you. But you're a tough young woman and you will deal and both of you will eventually move on." Kim nodded.

"Furthermore, I think you and Shego have unfinished business and well, I think you should try to talk to her the next opportunity you get. I don't mean over a fight either, dear! You both seem to have things to say to each other. So be the brave hero you are and face all your worries." With that Ann kissed her daughter on the top of her head and sashayed out of the kitchen. Kim heard her yelling at the Tweebs to get down stairs as they were heading over to a friend's house for the day.

When they had finally left and the car had pulled away, Kim mulled over her mother's advice. As usual she was right. In fact that woman was always right! Kim smiled to herself and proceeded to tuck into her food. Damn straight she was going to sort everything out and quit moping around the house. Wade would call with a sitch soon and she would head out alone to save the world. In the meantime, she was going to sift through some more college letters and do some serious thinking, then some serious window shopping with Monique. Yes today was going to be a good day.

A/N Thank you for the insightful reviews. I am definitely heeding any advice given. And the encouragement is most welcome.


	4. Chapter 4

Ron slumped lower on the couch in the tree house. Rufus burped and joined him in horizontal relief from their second helping from Bueno Nacho that day. He heard a car pull up outside but had no interest in talking to his Mom and sighed. Rufus also recognised the distinct sound of Mrs. Stoppable's engine and cocked an eye open in the brief hope that she would climb up the ladder and take them from this stomach cramp torment.

Unfortunately for Rufus, Ron's Mom had given up trying to coax the boy down from his self-inflicted exile and opted to let him stew up there like a good raging hormone teen. She was aware of the break-up with Kim and of course was a little annoyed with her for breaking her boy's heart. That was a mother's prerogative even when she knew that Kim always had the best of intentions when it came to Ron and of course she did do that saving the world thing rather well, so you couldn't be mad at her for long…She just wanted things as they were before the prom flipped Ron's world upside down and he started dating the teen hero. Better for him in the long run to keep Kim a friend and find love elsewhere. That was obvious, but she knew it might take her boy a while to reach the same conclusion.

I mean the teenage brain! Who knew what went on inside there? There seemed to be automatic delete when she entered her twenties so that no understanding could truly take place between mother and son regarding teenage angst. She was proud of him though and just lumped his behaviour in with the universal teenager syndrome as did everyone who couldn't recall their own teens. They knew a teenager existed by the fluid laws of their own space/time continuum which resulted in bouts of frenetic activity or just laying around all day eating junk food and playing video games. Best to let him stew a while longer. So she gathered the groceries and the newest and infinitely more understandable addition to the household in her arms and shuffled inside. Baby ninjas she could do; broken hearted teenage boys should come with instructions. She would check on him later. Besides Rufus was there to keep an eye out.

Rufus, however, had had enough by this stage and when he realised help was not coming, he did what any good naked mole rat would do. He employed subversive flatulence device numero uno at just the right intake of breath before yet another Ron Stoppable sigh. After being momentarily paralysed, Ron came barrelling down from the tree house, arms flailing, which caused him to fall the last three steps. He jumped to his feet and gagged and coughed and spluttered as Rufus slinked down the ladder and stood, arms crossed, at his feet waiting for the theatrics to end. Ron eventually straightened himself out and eyed his pet suspiciously, while attempting to wave off any wafting remnants of the acrid odour released by a gassy overweight mole rat.

"That was pretty sneaky there Rufus ol' buddy. Your secret weapon eh?"

Rufus squeaked out a yes followed by a hrumph which was naked mole rat-ese for _How else was I going to get you down from there?_

Ron shrugged and got the point, "I guess it's not _the_ most nutritious diet for you, ol' pal. Or me for that matter!" He said as he patted his plump belly. Then after the usual and somehow obligatory sniff of his own armpits (which caused a second bout of gagging) he picked up his beloved pet and loped over to the house.

"We both could use a shower and some fresh air…but promise me Rufus…never make that smell again or I'll move to…to…I'll move away!" Ron chuckled a little and Rufus made gleeful sounds as they finally headed indoors.

Ron showered and dressed in the same get up he always wore to school...though it was summer and he so needed a new outfit. Rufus slipped into his pocket and they jumped on the new blue scooter Norway had presented him for saving the world._ Why am I always thinking about Norway these days? _He wondered. Rufus quickly clambered out of his pocket, over the handlebars and into the purpose-made basket up front and let the wind whistle through his teeth. Entering Smarty Mart brought a sense of peace to Ron and he started looking through the aisles at the new products and general layout of goods mentally assigning them scores for tidiness and placement.

Walking down a quiet aisle filled with odds and ends the average impulse buyer would swoon over, Ron's mystical monkey power senses started tingling. When he looked behind him there was Master Sensei floating in mid air and smiling serenely at Ron. Rufus who had been perching on Ron's shoulder jumped to attention and both bowed their heads low.

"Stoppable-san, I have been meaning to visit you, to pass on my commendations for your actions during the alien invasion recently."

"Thank you, Master Sensei."

"You used the monkey power well and proved yourself worthy of it."

"No problemo. It was really excellent and boy what a kick it was, ya know, totally wicked moves and the power-" Ron was becoming excitable.

"Yes Stoppable-san, I understand the implications of the monkey power, but do you?"

"Uhm…do you mean like that they haven't come back since then?"

"Partly, they are always with you Stoppable-san, but will come to the fore when you most need them. They are not to be taken lightly."

"Of course not, Master Sensei. It's just that it feels a little hit and miss, ya know?"

"Indeed. Stoppable-san and that was only part of my reason to appear before you today. There is a matter of grave urgency which you must address immediately. Your chi is disturbed and the alignment of the Yin Yang elements of your affiliation with Team Possible is skewed."

"You felt my chi all the way over there? Wow! That's totally badical!"

"Stoppable-san," Sensei's floating image drew closer to Ron, "You must realign your chi and resume your path. The tree sways too wide. The nests are disturbed. The flight is wingless."

"Uh…I'm sure that makes sense in a mystical monkey sorta way but…"

"Take time to evaluate your role. Goodbye, Stoppable-san!" With that the image faded away as Ron stood there calling after it.

"No wait! Sensei! I don't understand! What trees? What birds are we talking about? Sparrows? Cos I like sparrows and all but…will it be windy? Who steals their wings? That's low!" Ron continued muttering to himself about the whole 'visit' from Master Sensei while Rufus jumped back into his pants pocket. He was clueless as to what the little apparition meant with all his double-talk. It was all a little too vague for him and he rubbed the back of his neck wondering how his chi was felt on the other side of the world and he didn't even know what it was! He jumped back on the bike and headed to the mall.

As he parked his scooter, he saw Kim and Monique exiting the mall giggling hysterically and his mood plummeted to a new low. Kim seemed to be doing just fine; she didn't appear to be missing him at all or feeling regret. A knot formed in his stomach now as she flicked her hair and swung her bag as though without a care in the world. He followed them with his eyes to Kim's car and watched them drive away. They hadn't even noticed him! But what had he expected? Did he want her as depressed as he was? Was that fair? Kim had been straight with him that night and answered all his questions as best she could. She was quite clear that she wanted him in her life but just not in 'that way'. Ron wasn't ready to be in her life without it being 'that way'. He had been Kim Possible's boyfriend! The luckiest guy on the planet and even though he bungled most things up, Kim had always accepted him just not in 'that way'now! He should have read the signs more clearly when Kim lost her memory that time and couldn't remember dating him. _Arrgghh this is so confusing. I want to be with her as friends _and_ as boyfriend girlfriend…but it's impossible! It's either one or the other…no scratch that it's only one now but that's not enough for me. Oh Kim I want to hate you but I can't! I need you. You're my best friend and I miss my best friend. She would have helped me through this heartache but it's you and all that good stuff overlapped with the love stuff and…and…_Exhausted by the brain strain, Ron drove on automatic pilot to Bueno Nacho and Rufus groaned in his basket and fainted dramatically.

Three nights later, still squirreled away in the tree house, Ron had an unexpected visitor. She climbed the ladder and crept stealthily through the door in the floor. She found Ron snoring on the couch in soiled clothes and took in the junk food and wrappers everywhere. Rufus only slightly more alert squealed in panic as he saw her leaning over them.

"Wake up, Dufus boy!" Shego said loudly.

Ron stirred and turned over saying, "Five more minutes Mom."

Shego grabbed him by the shoulder and yanked him back around, he opened his eyes and saw two angry emerald eyes sparkling at him.

"Wake up this minute before I fry your gerbil!" Shego smirked as she lit her plasma and pointed at Rufus who scowled at her.

"Naked mole rat for crying out loud! Is that so hard to remember?" He sat up and seemed to suddenly realise who he was talking to. "Sh..Sh..Shego! What are you doing here?" He started scrambling over the back of the couch which was ridiculous as there was only the back wall there. Shego straightened up and turned off the signature green glow.

"Glad to see I've got your attention, Sleeping Beauty! Now sit down like a good buffoon and I'll begin." Ron obeyed and slid back down beside Rufus and both looked dumbly up at Shego. Rufus's excuse was that he was stuffed and inert due to aforementioned stuffing but Ron was just being Ron about things and waited to see what would happen. He was about to tell her that KP would be along any minute to rescue him but stopped himself knowing that probably was not the case at the moment due to the time and space giving thingy.

Shego sighed as she took them in. How Ron could really be the secret ingredient in Team Possible she'd never know. But he was or rather they were and she seemed to be the only villain to cotton on to that fact. She could see the point of the gerbil; he was too clever by far and had thwarted every plan with a flick of a switch or by biting the opponent at the right time. Perhaps, she mused, Ron was merely the vehicle to carry the gerbil to the missions! Yes that was a likely explanation…but then she remembered Ron defeating Warhok and the powers that transformed him. He had really stepped up and proved his worth. Damn, nothing was ever cut and dry with these kids. As for Kim dating Ron? That had never made any sense to her. _Doy!_

"Okay listen up Buffoon!" She started but saw Ron's heckles rise and knew that abuse wasn't going to win him round to her way of thinking, so she took a breath and said in a most un-Shego tone. "Okay…listen up Ron."

Ron blinked his eyes slowly taking in the sound of his own name on a villain's lips. He smiled.

"You know my name!"

"Doy! Of course I do. It's just more fun calling you names…'coz, let's face it, you ARE a buffoon!" Ron ignored her, continued to smile and high-fived Rufus.

"See, they do know my name. It was all just part of the plan to throw the Ronster off his game!"

"Someone shoot me please!" an exasperated Shego said to the ceiling. "Will you focus you nitwit!"

Ron looked at her with a little sulk as did Rufus. "What is it Shego?" What do you want? And did you have to enter my secret lair, huh?"

"Secret lair? Secret Lair! It's a tree house for crying out loud! Why am I surrounded by idiots? Dr. D, Duff Killigan, Monkey Fist – LOSERS! – now YOU! RON STOPPABLE! The biggest freak of them all! You have something in common with all those loonies you know!"

"What? I do not!...Er what exactly?"

"You can't see what's right in front of your face!" Shego hissed bringing her nose to nose with Ron.

"Er it's pale and green and really unhinged…hello!" Ron scoffed back.

Shego was just about to knock some sense into him when she remembered why she was there. She backed off and casually looked at her claws before continuing.

"You've gotta sort things out with Kimmie!" She let the words sink in. It took a while but then Ron's face turned purple.

"You know! You, that night in the alleyway. That night Kim broke up with me. I forgot you were there! I mean, you hit me with plasma, all went dark, then all went way darker as Kim broke up with me." He threw his hands up to heaven and looked at Rufus.

"See buddy! There's no privacy in this game! And now I'm getting advice from the enemy!"

Shego lit her plasma which made Ron focus again. He wondered why the monkey power hadn't come yet but he guessed he wasn't in mortal danger so he grinned instead throwing Shego off balance as the terror she expected did not materialise.

"Sheesh I can't win with you guys, can I?!" She said and Ron nodded sheepishly. "But that's the point buffoon. We can't win when you're side by side with Pumpkin. She needs you."

"She doesn't need me-"

"Listen to me, SHE NEEDS YOU! Doy! She nearly died today."

"She…what? Why wasn't I told? Wade should have contacted me. Is she ok?"

"Yes, of course she is, calm down. Somebody not a million miles away was there to save her." Ron looked at Rufus questioningly.

"Me ,you dolt!" Shego blared.

Ron stared back at her and then leapt from the couch and threw his arms around her hugging her fiercely.

"Thank you Shego, thank you, thank you!"

"Oi, get off!" Shego yelled as she pushed Ron away and dusted down her suit as though it was contaminated. "Enough with the touchy-feely!" Ron sat down and let a sigh of relief out.

"They didn't contact you because Kimmie told Nerdlinger to give you 'some space' which as far as I can see is not getting either of you anywhere. So, here's the deal. You are going to suck it up, haul your butt over to Kim's house and ask to see her. Then you are going to talk about your 'feelings' and all that, but keep it brief for Pete's sake, then you are going to hug each other and you are going to let things go back to normal or so help me, Ronnie, I will be back here and I will get your attention in other ways!" At that she lit her hands and fired a small burst of plasma at the garbage on the table which caught fire straight away. As Ron scampered about to put it out, Shego slipped back down the ladder and away into the night.

_I sense the universe is trying to tell me something_ Ron mused after he'd put out the fire and sat down. First Master Sensei then Shego of all people! Yes it was time to suck it up, pull up the pants that had fallen as he got up, and go check on Kim. This was his opening. Rufus looked on at his slower than most human buddy as the cogs turned in his brain. It was going to be a long night so he settled himself into Ron's pocket.

Ron bolted into the house to find the Ronuminator wrist watch to contact Wade and tell him off for not letting him know Kim was in danger, and then he was heading over to KP's house to deal with the sitch between them.

_Yes indeedy all is good in the hood! The Ronster is back! Booyah!_

Shego stood in the shadows watching the buffoon get his act together. She was sure Kim would be annoyed at her for interfering but she'd had enough. Short of joining Team Possible herself to keep an eye on princess, which made her roll her eyes, she had done the next best thing, urged the secret weapon to regroup with her pumpkin.

…!

…?

Her pumpkin? Shego hurried back to her bike and sped away as fast as the winds of change would allow her. Going soft was not an option. She'd done her bit. She'd helped the good guys…what more did the universe want from her! _Gah! this is madness. So I did something not remotely villainy. So what? I'm still the baddest badass in a cat suit._ She roared the bike down the highway and smiled as she reached her destination. Who was she kidding? She had helped Kimmie and it didn't feel bad at all. Finally she wondered how dufus boy was getting on with Miss Pris at that very moment..._  
_

_**A/N** As much as I agree with Shego, not getting the Ron with Kim thing-I had to add a little chapter for him because I love Rufus and well Ron has a heart of solid, slightly manic, gold._

_LoR: re Ann with an 'e' (How did I get that wrong!) I agree, she is pure untapped, mismatched goodness. And yes the Kimverse is unusually populated by more than capable smart-mouthed women and bumbling, de-clawed men who are really no threat or help emotionally or otherwise. Pause to breathe...the mind boggles. Thank you for reviewing!  
_


	5. Chapter 5

Before Shego had made decided to pay a visit to Dufus boy, certain events had taken place that were the result of fortuitous happenstance. She had been outside Dr. D's lab when she had overheard him on his private screen discussing Kim's latest mission with Monkey Fist. It had been elaborately set up by Senior Senior Senior with the hired help of well placed Hench Co. goons. Apparently, Senior Senior Senior had considered that getting Kim to the field of play would be Wade's priority but getting her home could be arranged by witnesses of her rescue of twelve skiers during an organised avalanche in the French Alps. The grateful husband of one skier was to offer her a ride home on his jet along with his wife and a few others who'd had enough snow. Of course, these were the Hench Co. operatives and they were to tamper with Kim's parachute before she jumped over Middleton. Shego was disgusted and even Drakken and Monkey Fist thought it was a little too sneaky. _That's no way to kill a hero_ thought Shego as she raced for the hangar in which her beloved jet was being refuelled. She knew that the plane was already in flight, its approximate ETA and from where it was coming and that it was a private jet. So Shego practically yanked one of the maintenance guys away from the jet before leaping into the cockpit and firing the engines. For once the bragging of Senior Senior Junior of his father's plan on the Undernet would help.

Ten minutes later on the western outskirts of Middleton Shego knew she would scour the skies if she had to. Thankfully her radar was working perfectly and soon was beeping as a another aircraft approached. This was it. As she spotted the little Kim blip leaping off the plane, she simply reacted, manoeuvred into position, hit auto-pilot and ejected from the jet.

Blind panic set in as Kim realised her parachute had opened but then flown into the air above her, the cord having been cut. She gaped upwards at the material flying away from her and at the plane growing smaller in the distence. Then she looked down. So this was it. The stunning earth looked so distant and yet it was mere moments away from killing her. Sabotage. It made her sick. She contacted Wade just to see a friendly face.

"Hi Wade." She roared into her mike as the wind whistled past her.

"Hey Kim, what's up?"

"Bit of a sitch here, Wade. My chute was tampered with and well-" she turned the camera earthwards so he'd get the idea. Wade furiously began tapping at his consul trying to find some way to save her.

"Hold on Kim. We'll figure something out. We've some time to spare here." Wade was a terrible liar but that didn't stop him trying to work out the trajectories and flight paths of any type of plane that might pass near her.

Kim could only smile wretchedly and added, "Anything's possible, right?"

Wade only nodded as he failed to make contact with two planes in the immediate area. He was growing desperate and couldn't look at Kim again on the screen. Kim put a small smile on her face and repeated the words to herself _anything's possible _as she listened to the wind whistling past and the ground approaching too fast.

Suddenly Kim felt arms lock around her waist and try to turn her over. Her initial reaction was to fight it until she remembered her limited options. She turned around and there furiously attempting to buckle herself to Kim was Shego. Shego! Kim could see the look of determination on her face and tried to help by slowing their descent as best she could. Shego finished tying them off then looked straight at her, her eyes blazing. Not having the luxury of technology to speak to Kim, she simply mouthed the READY? To which Kim nodded. She held on to Shego for dear life and intertwined their legs. She wrapped her own arms around Kimmie too; she was not going to let her slip away.

Shego pulled her cord and sighed with relief just as they were whipped up and caught by the wind. Kim felt as though she was suspended there in midair for hours as all thoughts of the mission and the saboteurs and her rescue raced through her mind. Shego smiled as they neared the ground as Kim had yet to break her fierce hold on her. For her part she couldn't see over Kim's head all that well but managed to aim for the Possible residence nonetheless.

Her first words after they crashed onto the roof were, "you owe me a jet, princess." But Kim being winded by falling on her back didn't process anything except solid ground (she didn't realise she was on the roof) and happy to be alive, she hugged Shego even tighter whispering thanks over and over again.

Dr. Anne possible heard a thud on the roof and went up to investigate the noise. James had taken the boys out for a guys' night of pizza and a movie. This left Anne waiting for her daughter to come home from her latest mission so they could have a girls' night of …well…a pizza and a DVD. There was no point trying to change the classics. Anne knew her daughter still wasn't back to her usual exuberant self after her break-up with Ron and when she heard the thud, she thought maybe Kim had overshot her landing. Being the consummate professional, not prone to hysterical panic, she simply got up, walked briskly up stairs, hoisted the step ladder up to the skylight and stuck her head out. The sight before her of dark green parachute silk gave her pause. Kim's chutes were usually stock white.

"Kim honey, is that you?"

"Uh huh."

"Are you alright, sweetie?"

"Uh huh!"

Anne then noticed the intimate position of two bodies on the roof through the fine silk.

"Kim dear, who's that with you?" There was a brief pause.

"It's…Shego, mom."

Anne almost gasped but regained her composure as quickly, they didn't seem to be fighting and the fluttering of her heart subsided immediately. She took stock of the situation.

"From your unusual position on the roof and the colour of the parachute, am I to assume Shego saved your life Kim?" They had landed on the roof!

"Uh huh." Kim blushed as she thought about Shego lying on top of her and how it must look to her mother. They were buckled together at the front and Shego had raised herself with her arms while Kim tried to undo the makeshift strap and buckles.

"Form full sentences, darling!" Her mother was naturally as sharp as a tack.

"Sorry mom, yes Shego saved my life and now we're trying to disentangle after the landing. Sorry about that by the way."

"That's okay honey. Shego?"

"Yes, Dr.P?"

"Thank you for saving Kim."

"No problem, Dr. P. I couldn't let pumpkin plummet to her untimely death, now could I?" Shego looked right into Kim's eyes and whispered to her, "You look good in green, princess." Indeed, under the silk Kim's face took on a deep green hue and Shego thought she looked beautiful. Then she froze. Kim _was_ beautiful.

Anne watched and listened as one of the two bodies under the parachute started getting frustrated with the buckles and a smile crept to her face.

"Kimmie, I'm ordering pizza. It's just us tonight. So when you're ready, come down and I'll order. And Shego?"

"Er…Yes Dr. P?"

"Anyone who saves my daughter is welcome in my house. I'll see you both shortly." And with that the good doctor clipped her heels back down the ladder, leaving the skylight open for the girls.

_The girls! _She mused as she slinked back downstairs and into the kitchen to make a strong cup of coffee. They were hardly girls. Kim was an adult and Shego was perhaps in her mid twenties. They were young women. And though her daughter was usually oblivious to such things, Anne could detect an extraordinary buzz in the air on that roof. She had known such chemistry to exist between people. She also knew that chemistry between those two would be of the explosive kind. There were innumerable issues to Shego being in Kim's life as a friend and not a foe. However, from their conversation mere days ago, she knew that Kim respected Shego and her gut instinct to encourage Kim to talk to Shego seemed to be valid. Witness the green thief saving her daughter yet again.

Then the thought struck her that perhaps there was another layer of chemicals at play. She pursed her lips and went about stirring the coffee. Her nimble elegant fingers tapping her chin as she thought it through. It was an intriguing concept but she wouldn't get ahead of herself and would wait to observe the pair when they came downstairs. Indeed, it might have been a premature and giant leap on her part, but Anne Possible had an impressive talent at reading people. Whether nurses on her staff or interns about their rounds with her, to the patients before her: every twitch of muscle, every movement of their eyes betrayed their panic, their inexperience, their doubts, their arrogance, their attraction to those around her and quite often their attraction to her. She had seen it all over the years, which is why she found her family so refreshingly honest. Her husband, though a tad gormless, was from the start sincere with her and she drank it in like a heady wine at the time. She had chosen love over the fiery passion of previous short-lived relationships, because it was right for her and for the career path she'd set out on with such conviction. The boys' club of neurosurgery was going to be infiltrated by the best: Her. With James she had mended old love's scars but it had been no easy task at all. She was a woman who could only love deeply and so she had committed to James as he had to her and their remarkable progeny was changing the world day after day after long day. What was Kim's future?

She had considered her adult daughter's potential partner would have to be extraordinarily confident to be with Kim. Ron, unfortunately for him, was not up to the task. But, who better than a former hero to understand and support Kim in life as well as look out for her with those extraordinary powers? Hmmm…the idea, apart from Shego being a criminal, wasn't at all unsavoury. She would certainly keep Kim on her toes and it was perfectly obvious she was a passionate person which made Anne smile knowingly. Of course it would need a little investigation to see if Shego was completely unstable because Anne wasn't so naive to want her daughter involved with a mad woman. Was she mad though? Or for that matter, would Kim be attracted to her in that way? Considering anything was possible for a Possible, Anne sipped her coffee and smiled again. Kim was no bed of roses either and her drive was akin to manic, perhaps they were a perfect match.

Kim entered the kitchen on her own and smiled sheepishly at her mom.

"Shego had to go." She said finally. Kim looked crestfallen but then stood up straight remembering she was alive, gloriously alive and she beamed at her mother before clasping her in the tightest hug. Anne felt a tear roll down her cheek at the realisation that she could have lost Kim tonight. She kissed the top of her head and held her close for as long as she could.

"Tell me what happened, sweetheart."

What Kim didn't know was that Shego had suddenly panicked at her more than comfortable proximity to Kim. The touching and hugging had set her nerves on edge though she tried to hide it with a smirk. But then out of nowhere it seemed she had wanted to lean in and kiss Kim. There under the green chute with her mother mere feet away! It was too much to take in. So after they had separated and Kim was gathering the chute together, Shego had back flipped off the roof and run off. Kim raced to the edge and watched her leave.

Just before she disappeared from view, Shego thought better of her fleeing, turned around and called back to Kim. She was planning to head to Stoppable's tree house to get the buffoon back in the game so she wouldn't have to watch over Kim or think about Kim at all. She was already blocking out her earlier reactions to her arch-nemesis, burying them deep down. Her jet had surely crash-landed near the lair where it was programmed to go, but her bike wasn't far away. She would head to it first.

"You owe me a jet, Princess!" She yelled as though angry and waved her fist at Kim. But Kim could see the grin on her face.

Kim smiled and shouted back, "I owe you my life!" and waved her away before heading in through the skylight.

She was sorry Shego had run, she'd wanted to thank her and she became horribly depressed all of a sudden thinking of Shego's mesmerising, determined face battling to tie them together, then of Shego hovering over her on the roof and the teasing fresh on her lips. _I do look good in green_ she agreed before trudging into the kitchen. Shego was undoubtably the most amazing person she had ever come across.

**A/N **Yes it's K+ so it'll end in the next chapter with kigo finally knowing who their soulmate is and all the usual stuff you'll want to kill me for, but I can't help falling in love with them: the essence of kigo is beautiful and overpowering and terrifying for a cartoon! I will probably continue in a T fic the subsequent relationship scenarios my brain has envisaged! Also an Anne/Shego fic was suggested to me in the comments and well, it's definitely got me thinking. I'd never even considered it! To those who graciously commented, I'll be reading your fics as soon as this is done as I don't want to second guess myself.

This isn't really a funny fic, maybe too slice of life but for a first fic, I had to scramble through it. Get it out of my system. Thanks for taking the time to read it even if this feels rushed and apologies to fans of Senior Senior Senior. I actually like him but he was used and abused here as a means to an end. I'll definitely have to rectify that in another fic sometime. His voice is too sexy as is Anne's...swoon :)


	6. Chapter 6

One week Later...

An echo reverberated around her mind. The soft whispers of thank yous that had left Pumpkin's lips as they lay on the roof cut through her thoughts. The fierceness of the hug Kimmie had been giving her in the air and on the roof could still be felt on her body. All over her body. Inside and out, her body remembered Pumpkin just as her mind tried to push those very feelings out. They would do her no good in the life she had chosen.

And there was the crux of the problem. Shego had so much she wanted to say to Kimmie. And their positioning at polar opposites of the law, which once would have thrilled Shego, now left her a little forlorn. Sure she could tear after Kim Possible and vow to have her, to corrupt her even.

But Shego was all bark and no bite really as a villain these days. She could maim, thwart, thieve, fight but she had never actually killed. She knew her morals had not been entirely corrupted and with the pardon she and Drakken had received after the aliens were whipped, she wasn't as enthusiastic as she had let on to resume their crime spree and take over the world. She had a clean slate now and just needed the push to move on, change gears. And when that little gear clicked into action it brought about the beginning of that dreaded term: resolution.

When she had abandoned Team Go, it is generally agreed that the brains of the Team went with her. She had been the glue that bound the family of superheroes together. But they had all been so impossibly young for Hego's plan. She was just a teenager, a freak of nature and the most obviously different from the others. There was no easy alter ego for her because she was always green. The make up she had to apply for anonymity seemed like a betrayal of her true self and the growing pains of the angst ridden teenage years left their mark and made her run from Go Tower as her anger flared and took control. Hego and Mego had been insufferable and the Wegos had their moments that made her feel hemmed in to Hego's plan for her entire life. For what? To save the world? Bah! People were not worth saving. They were always after something. Even the opposite sex were a series of failed attempts at intimacy and women just hated her. She'd been outside from the start. It suited her.

She was older now, had had experience with the opposite sex but not a lot in the ways of the heart. Her lovers had been in the villain category as men from the general populace had only seen her as a hero or villain and most of all green. Villains were a little more forward thinking and saw woman with beauty and power and they worshipped at her feet. This type of meaningless intimacy was all rather too easy though and she was aware that she'd never connected with one person before.

Shego never trusted herself enough to let go and usually was the first to take off at first light. Now, however, she was pausing to consider love. It really did take the wind out of her sails, the barbed wire from her tongue. She didn't want to admit it and though she tried to fight it, something was growing in her heart. A fire of sorts for a certain red-headed beauty, another woman. This threw Shego for a loop. Not that she might be in love with another woman but why that had never occurred to her years before this. And Kimmie was so young. She didn't like that fact either. Perhaps it was something just about Kim. All the times she had foiled Drakken, had escaped deadly perils before her. She thought of the embarrassment potion Dr. D had cooked up and how she had delighted in torturing Kim. She also remembered some sound whupping being served to her too. Yet again, Kim succeeded but Shego never doubted she would. Even when she was just a head, she had been formidable against the embarrassment ninjas who really were the embarrassment.

What could she offer Kim? Trouble with a large S for Serious. How would she go about it? Telling her nemesis she was attracted to her? It was unbearable to think about it and made Shego boiling mad. So mad she fried a few items of furniture in her immediate vicinity. It was ludicrous to think that Kimmie would return the feelings. It was insane to think that her parents would approve and it was madness to think that the world would understand. Her mind started throwing up the possibilities: A hero with a thief. Kim would be ridiculed and no longer trusted to make decisions. A hero with an ex-thief? It was a possibility. A hero with an ex-hero? Sounded a little better but made her sound ancient like she'd retired or something. A hero with a hero. That sounded about right. But could she go back to that life? Sure her brothers were older now. She'd even had a few run-ins with them with Kimmie tagging along.

The best bet was to go to Go Tower and check things out. Maybe they could reform. She did have that pardon after all. The general public saw her as a kind of hero again. Drakken hadn't gone public with his idiot plans yet though the underworld knew well he'd gone back to the dark side since the petals had stopped sprouting around his neck and as Senor Senor Senior was once heard to say that a villain is known by the excessive force of his retribution. Drakken hated the world and nothing had changed that. But she owed Drakken nothing. She was a hired mercenary, she could walk away.

So a hero with a hero was the way to go. Getting on pumpkin's parents' good side also a good way to go…earning Dufus boy's respect would help but she could not be bothered by that yawnsome task. And what exactly did she want from Kim? Love, Marriage, friendship, companionship, a future?

Yes a future which included proximity and love and more of that goofy grin. She also needed an older Kim. One who'd been to university, who'd made her own decision about where and what to study not influenced by a partner's proximity. She almost laughed at her certainty that Kim would feel the same. It made her pause and take a look at herself. Was she worth waiting for? Kim would probably meet someone in college and then what? Should she tell her then how she felt? Probably. But first things first. Her jet was in pieces. One huge IOU from Kimmie should do it she smirked.

Not waiting another second, she grabbed one of Drakken's hovercrafts and headed to GO city to check in with the boys. To check in and see if even the first part of her grand strategy would work. Then she was off to see Dr. D and then if her stomach had not flipped she would go and talk to Kim. Yes not princess, not pumpkin, not Miss Priss…Kim. She'd go and see if there was even the slightest chance that Kim felt something too. It was a giddiness she'd never felt before, liberating and terrifying for a green thief. World destruction was a whole lot easier than facing your own heart and the fear of rejection was more numbing than the prospect of life imprisonment. But Shego wasn't a coward. And if there was even a faint hope that the young hero might feel something for her, then she'd win her, woo her, do whatever it took to bring them together. She would be subtle, she would be patient…she would try to figure out how to be those things because the prize, the beauty of it was a simple thing experienced by so few people…true love. Shego sighed and smiled and admitted out loud, " I'm in love...I'M IN LOOOOVE!!!" as the hovercraft whizzed over the rooftops and ever west.

A/N I finished it here because I will continue in a T rating I think. I sat on this chapter for over a week trying to decide what to do with it and of course then life creeps in and writing goes out the window! I found **all** comments really helpful. Thank you. I can see my shortcomings so clearly and I've cringed upon rereading to find typing errors. But I'm glad I tried. Thank you for the support. Go raibh maith agaibh!


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